Review: The Heart of It by M. O'KEEFE

Blurb:

On the outside rich and successful Gabe Paterson has everything.

No one would guess the ghosts from his past are tearing him apart.

Desperate, he reaches out to Elena – a resilient call girl, with her own childhood scars – for help.

In their moments of honesty, the two forge the most surprising relationship of their lives.

But will they be brave enough to make it into something more?

Release Date: February 29, 2016

ASIN: B01ATWSXIY

Genre(s): Contemporary, Short Story

More About Molly:

http://www.molly-okeefe.com/

https://www.facebook.com/MollyOKeefeBooks/

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28535502-the-heart-of-it

http://smile.amazon.com/Heart-M-OKeefe-ebook/dp/B01ATWSXIY

Review:

I never know what to expect from O'Keefe and that's only because she can push her writing limits and with this novella it wasn't any different. She brought together two abused individuals that found something more in one another.

I really wanted to like this like I did her other stories, but it was way too short. This story starts out with Gabe and Elena on I believe it's there 4 or 5 encounter. It's briefly mentioned what happened on the ones before but I would've liked to see these two meet from the beginning. What happened? How does Gabe end up using this service?

So if you've read the blurb you know it's about an author and a call girl. Each have a past they are trying to move beyond but for most of the story these two only have one encounter that is mentioned until the end of the novella.

As far as the characters go they were interesting but nothing about them really stood out for me. There was no deep connection of love or commitment. Elena was just trying to help him out. I don't think I could even put this in the category of romance.

I think in order for me to have fallen In love with them I needed more of a story. I believe this could have been a very good full length book if it had more details and scenes added in.

The ending left me wondering okay so now that they met up again what happens after they went out to eat? Did they go there separate ways? Did they have a Hea? There story just feels unfinished unfortunately.

Excerpt:

“She slipped her hand into his, curled the back of it against his palm like some warm trusting thing, and his body exploded into physical life. He felt his blood vessels, the blood thudding through them, the twitch of his hamstrings. The ache of his lungs. He felt all of it. All of himself. In the presence of her.

“Mike?”

He lifted his eyes to hers, a starving man, helpless under her brown gaze. No doubt he was revealing all of his desire. No doubt he was practically drooling.

Mike. Right. That’s me.

Before he could say anything she leaned forward and short-circuited his brain with the warmth of her cheek inches from his. “Would you like to go downstairs?” she whispered in his ear. “To my room?”